inexact 



The Days of a Man 1920 



Pluralism (multiplicity in unity) is as true as one- 

 ness, in the meaning given by William James's asser- 

 tion: 'No one can question that the Universe is in 

 some sense one, but the whole point lies in what that 



one is.' 



Science is human experience tested and set in 

 order; any belief which neither demands nor permits 

 A priori verification lies outside of Science. All propositions 

 reasoning wn i cn can b e proved by deduction or even proved 

 completely belong to the realm of Expression or 

 Logic, not to Science conclusions being involved in 

 premises. Pure mathematics, for instance, is the 

 logic of number and space, and its demonstrations, 

 however intricate, are derived from its definitions. 

 Similarly, a definition of the Universe can be framed 

 in such a way as to make its unity self-evident; in 

 fact, no other definition that is self-consistent is 

 possible; but no scientific conclusion can be deduced 

 from proof thus obtained. Details of reality - - mat- 

 ter, force, and life - - would be no nearer demonstra- 

 tion than before, for these we know only from the 

 coordinated results of human dealings with them. 

 Sciences Knowledge, never complete, may be relatively 

 exact and exact or i ne xact according to the sufficiency of our 

 data. In no field has Science yet reached completion 

 - and it is in the nature of things impossible that it 

 ever can. It sees some things very definitely; but 

 the unknown lies as a trackless wilderness on every 

 hand. As details accumulate, generalizations are 

 possible - - and even prophecy with some degree of 

 certainty. In Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, rela- 

 tive exactness prevails. The simpler the factors 

 involved, the more definite our mastery. Obstacles 

 in the relatively exact sciences are mainly our human 



C 77o 3 



